18 Monday May 23 2022 | the times
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IAN FORSYTH/GETTY IMAGESNet zero will ‘help UK level up’
The government’s plans to invest in a
net-zero future could help “level up” the
country and create opportunities in the
north of England, a report claims.
The Resolution Foundation think
tank said that the drive to net zero
would channel investment to parts of
the country that have seen under-
investment in recent years. The UK has
committed to becoming net zero by
2050, meaning that it must slash emis-
sions as much as possible.
Green investment could tackle
inequality by generating growth in
areas in need of more economic oppor-
tunities, the report from the Resolution
Foundation and the London School of
Economics said. However they warnedthat net-zero investment is not a “silver
bullet” for the UK’s lack of an economic
strategy.
Anna Valero, a senior policy fellow at
LSE, said: “In reality, smart, net-zero
investment should be embedded in a
wider economic strategy, especially as it
could have the additional benefit of
bolstering the levelling up agenda.”
A government spokesperson said:
“Net zero and the British Energy Secur-
ity Strategies together could support
around 480,000 jobs in 2030... We are
already seeing results from clear gov-
ernment policy, with investment
throughout the country and jobs
created from Teesside to Hull to
Ellesmere Port.”Britain is becoming a less attractive
place in which to invest and the govern-
ment should respond by cancelling the
planned increase in corporation tax,
according to a survey of business
leaders.
It found that ensuring the UK could
attract investment was “utterly vital” if
ministers wanted to revive economic
growth and raise living standards.
The Centre for Policy Studies, which
interviewed more than 100 company
founders, investors, chief executives
and entrepreneurs, warned that the
government had yet to put forward the
policies, or produce a narrative, that
made an irresistible case for Britain as a
place to do business, while countries
such as France were pouring resources
into wooing investors.
The right-of-centre think tank said
its interviewees felt that Britain had
enormous natural advantages but was
becoming less open to talent and
investment.
In a report published today, it says:
“Investors are not only worried about
the UK’s trajectory, but concerned that
the government is not as focused on the
problem as it should be. While they
welcome steps such as the creation of
the Office for Investment, there is a
consensus that we are too reliant on,
and complacent about, our existing
advantages. And if the government has
a story to tell investors about why post-
Brexit Britain is the best place to come,
it is not one that enough of them have
heard.”
It says that “Britain’s prosperity hasCancel tax rise to
boost investment,
say business chiefs
long depended on being open to talent
and investment”, adding: “Following
Brexit and the pandemic, and amid the
worst cost-of-living crisis in a genera-
tion, that openness is more important
than ever. It is crucial to boosting
economic growth and raising living
standards, and will be absolutely neces-
sary in delivering the government’s
plans to level up the UK.”
For the past two years Britain has lost
out to France as the most popular Euro-
pean destination for foreign investors,
according to the accountancy firm EY.
In 2020 the UK secured 975 inward
investment projects compared with
France’s 985 amid disruption from
Brexit and the pandemic. For the previ-
ous 18 years Britain had been top of the
annual survey.
The Centre for Policy Studies report
offers a ten-point plan to revive Britain’s
attractiveness to overseas investors,
including cancelling the rise in corpo-
ration tax, which is due to go up from
19 per cent to 25 per cent by 2026.
The report also calls on the govern-
ment to extend “special tax regimes
that bring wealth and talent to Britain”
and “enhance tax breaks that boost
investment”. It wants ministers to intro-
duce “cutting-edge regulatory frame-
works to capture new markets” and to
put a “new competitiveness unit at the
heart of government”.
Robert Colvile, director of the think
tank, said: “When business speaks, the
government should listen. We know
that business is the engine of economic
growth. If we are to grow our way out of
the current economic malaise, we will
need business to do the heavy lifting.”Andrew EllsonShore thing A life-size model of a dead sperm whale has been installed on Majuba beach in Redcar, North Yorkshire, as part of The Whale, a three-day theatrical event exploring humans’ impact on the planet